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Introduction

I recently reviewed Synology's entry-level DS216j two-bay NAS. So it's only fitting to give QNAP a shot at showing what it can do for folks on a limited budget. The TS-228 is QNAP's cheapest two-bay product, joining the TS-231 and TS-231P in its SOHO / Home family.

The product table shows QNAP uses three different processors in its entry-level two-bay line. I'll reveal what's in the TS-228 in a bit.

QNAP TS-228, TS-231+ and TS-231p comparison

As an entry level NAS, the TS-228 has a single Gigabit Ethernet port and one each of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports and the drives are not hot swappable. The full version of the above table is here.

I'll be comparing the QNAP TS-228 with the aforementioned Synology DS216j Disk Station. The DS216j Disk Station is a logical comparison as Synology's entry level two bay NAS with very similar pricing.

The chart below, excerpted from our NAS Finder, compares the major features of the TS-228 and the DS216j.

QNAP TS-228 and Synology DS216j feature comparison

The callouts below show the front and rear panel of the TS-228. The front panel has a single USB 3.0 port and a One Touch Copy button that lets you easily copy files to/from a flash drive. Located just above the copy button is a convenient SD card slot.

The rear panel has a reset button, the single Gigabit Ethernet port, and the USB 2.0 port.

QNAP TS-228 callouts

Inside

The image below shows the component side of the TS-228's board. Removing the lone heatsink reveals the processor as a Realtek RTD1195PN. This is the first time we've spotted a Realtek processor in a NAS we've reviewed. Realtek doesn't have a public page for this device, but Google searches identify it as Dual Cortex-A7 SoC @ 1.1 GHz. It's also found in WD's My Passport Wireless Pro.

You can't see it in the photo, but there is a blower about the size of a 2.5" drive below the board that provides some air circulation inside the enclosure. It produced no audible noise in a quiet office environment.

QNAP TS-228 board

The Table below shows the key component summary for the QNAP TS-228 and the Synology DS216j.

Table 1: Key component summary

The TS-228 drew 10 W with two of our stock WD Red 1 TB (WD10EFRX) drives spun up and 5 W in power save mode with he drives spun down. Fan and drive noise was rated very low. RAID 1 build time was ~ 2.5 hours for a 2 X 1 TB volume.